A Simple Guide To Lead Nurturing

With the evolution of technology that aims to automate processes and analyse data at faster rates, marketers are forced to become more responsible at measuring marketing’s return on investment. But, even before a marketer embarks on the task of measuring MROI (Marketing Return On Investment), there are strategies that can be implemented to assist in the objective of converting Prospect to Customer and Customer to Repeat Purchaser etc.

Welcome to the concept of Lead Nurturing.

Lead Nurturing.

“Lead nurturing is the process of building effective relationships with potential customers throughout the buying journey.”– Dayna Rothman, Marketo

Lead Nurturing Strategy

One of the strategies of lead nurturing is to recognise that leads and customers are all at different stages of the buying process. If you can identify what these stages are then the next step is to tailor your marketing messages and materials to best suit their needs. At a basic level, the stages could be broken into three stages:

2. Mid Stage

3. Late Stage

This lead is close to becoming a customer. Offer materials to support the buyer during the purchase process (eg. Pricing Demos, Third-Party Reviews, Customer Case-Studies).

Need More Inspiration?

When I’m asked to talk about the topic of lead nurturing I bring it back to reality for the listener. I ask them to name a few brands that they like to do business and why. What makes their customer experience so good that it makes them return and buy more?

Typically, their response includes one or many of the following key points:

Their content is personalised to what I like (it’s interesting, funny or informative)

It’s easy to buy from them. I can do everything on my smart phone

They speak to me like a human, instead of a number

They make me feel special by inviting me to special VIP events and notify me of new releases

They speak to me at the right time with the right message (eg. service alerts, options to upgrade, discounts etc.)

If you can take your good experiences with brands you like and apply it to your own brand, creating content will turn from a chore into an easy and manageable task to complete.

For a few more ideas to get you started, have a read of this cool infographic developed by Marketo.

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An effective nurturing process actively moves the prospects you’ve created through your marketing and lead generation efforts, through a sales development process to the point where they become paying customers. Lead nurturing utilizes both marketing and sales tactics to increase the predictability and velocity of revenue growth.